ALAN PATON SHORT
2025
STORY COMPETITION
Calling all KZN Midlands, Pietermaritzburg, and Durban school pupils!
Each school may submit THREE entries (selected by teachers)
T H E M E
"Ah, But Your Land is Beautiful"
(Inspired by one of Alan Paton’s novels)
DATES AND TIMES: 23 MAY | 09AM - 16PM AND 24 MAY | 09AM - 13PM
VENUE: LEEB DUTOIT COUNCIL CHAMBERS, UKZN PIETERMARITZBURG CAMPUS
STORY GUIDELINES:
PRIZES:
Word count: 500-800 words
Top 10 winners will be invited to
Theme: “Ah, But Your Land is Beautiful” must be integrated into read their stories at the Midlands
your story or act as the title. Literary Festival in Howick on
30/31 August 2025.
What to include:
• Learner’s name HOW TO ENTER:
• School name
• School email address (personal email allowed if school has Submit your story to:
not assisted with the story). Darryl Earl David
• Your story must be original and not a summary of Alan Paton's Director, Alan Paton Literary
novel. Festival
Email: [email protected]
WHAT JUDGES ARE LOOKING FOR:
Closing Date for Submissions:
• Quality of writing: Good sentence structure, language 29 July 2025
command
• Creativity: Originality, imagination, and storytelling ability
• Engagement: The ability to capture and hold the reader’s
attention
ABOUT ALAN PATON
Alan Paton is Pietermaritzburg's most famous writer. And indeed one of South Africa's first
literary superstars. He is best known for his novel Cry the Beloved Country (1948), which
was published to instant international acclaim. The main road from Durban into the city of
Pietermaritzburg is called Alan Paton Drive. The most prestigious literary prize in SA is
named after him. And the Pietermaritzburg Campus of UKZN is home to the Alan Paton
Centre, which contains the original study of Paton. Such is Alan Paton's fame that the most
quoted literary passage in the history of South African writing belongs to him:
THE MOST FAMOUS QUOTE IN ALL OF SA -
CRY THE BELOVED COUNTRY
There is a lovely road that runs from Ixopo into the hills. These hills are grass-covered and
rolling, and they are lovely beyond any singing of it. The road climbs seven miles into them,
to Carisbrooke; and from there, if there is no mist, you look down on one of the fairest
valleys of Africa. About you there is grass and bracken and you may hear the forlorn crying
of the tithoya, one of the birds of the veld. Below you is the valley of the Umzimkulu, on its
journey from the Drakensberg to the sea; and beyond and behind the river, great hill after
great hill; and beyond and behind them, the mountains of Ingeli and East
Griqualand. The grass is rich and matted, you cannot see the soil. It
holds the rain and mist, and they seep into the ground, feeding
the streams in every kloof. It is well-tended, and not too many
cattle feed upon it; not too many fires burn it, laying bare the
soil. Stand unshod upon it, for the ground is holy, being even
as it came from the Creator. Keep it, guard it, care for it, for it
keeps men, guards men, cares for men. Destroy it and man is
destroyed.
PROGRAMME
ALAN PATON LITERARY FESTIVAL -
UKZN PIETERMARITZBURG CAMPUS & ALAN PATON CENTRE
FRIDAY 23 MAY
9.00- 10.00 Uma Mesthrie - Alan Paton and The Phoenix Settlement. Keynote Speaker
10.00 - 10.30 George Hughes- Natal Parks Board
10.30 - 11.00 Saleem Badat- Ruth First and Activist Research
11.00 - 11.30 TEA
11.30- 12.00 Morgainne Sue du Plessis : The Reception of Cry The Beloved Country in the UK & US
12.00- 12.30 Cameron Peters - Roy Campbell
12.30 - 13.00 Betty Govinden: When Rain Clouds Gather
13.00 - 14.00 LUNCH
14.00 - 14.30 Jaqui Hilterman. The Filming of Cry the Beloved Country at Hilton Station
14.30 - 15.00 Ayub Sheik. Wopko Jensma: A Monograph
15.00 - 15.30 Brian Khoza - The Hopeful South African
15.30 - 16.00 Yvonne Spain. The Time Of My Life
SATURDAY 24 MAY
9.00 - 9.30 - Kobus Moolman - Like a hole in the head
9.30 - 10.00 - Darryl Earl David. Karoozing: An Ode to the Open Road
10.00 - 10.30 - Robin Sewlal - My Radio Memory: Listening to the Listener
10.30 - 11.00 - Sean Christie & Hedley Twidle - The Interpreters
11.00 - 11.30 - TEA
11.30 - 12.00 Malcolm Pearse - All The Hills Are Home
12.00 - 13.00 Richard Zenith - Pessoa - A Biography - Keynote speaker
Alan Paton Short Story Competition
